The Wind on the Moon by Eric Linklater Page A

screaming, then crash —wings out, head up, and halt two feet from the heather—when I struck stiffly, straight-legged, at a fine fat ptarmigan, too slow to escape, and dashed him to the ground. Ha! the delight, the swiftness, and the freedom!’
    â€˜Freedom!’ sighed the Puma. ‘Life without freedom is a poor, poor thing.’
    â€˜Do they never let you out of your cages?’ asked Dinah.
    â€˜Never,’ said the Puma. ‘They don’t trust us.’
    The Falcon stood tiptoe on his rocky pinnacle and slowly stretched his lovely wings, as if to remind himself of his power. Then, folding them again, he looked at Dinah and Dorinda and said, ‘I suppose you are quite happy to be here? You cannot regret the loss of your freedom, because, having only been human children, you never knew what freedom was.’
    â€˜Oh, I’m sure we did,’ said Dinah. ‘We had to do lessons, of course, and be punctual for dinner, and go to bed at half-past seven, but in between times we had quite a lot of freedom. Hadn’t we, Dorinda?’
    â€˜Not nearly enough,’ said Dorinda. ‘You remember how often Mother used to make us wash our hands, and how Miss Serendip made us wear shoes when we wanted to go barefoot. I think we had very little freedom.’
    â€˜But we weren’t locked up,’ said Dinah.
    â€˜No, we weren’t locked up.’
    â€˜So even you aren’t contented with life in a zoo?’ said the Puma.
    â€˜It’s interesting,’ said Dinah, ‘but we don’t mean to stay here.’
    â€˜How are you going to get out?’ asked the Puma.
    â€˜We shall escape,’ said Dorinda.
    â€˜How?’ demanded the Puma and the Falcon, both speaking together.
    â€˜We haven’t decided yet,’ said Dinah, ‘but somehow or other we shall find a way. You said yourself that human beings were very enterprising, and Dorinda and I get more and more enterprising every day.’
    â€˜Will you help us to escape?’ asked the Falcon.
    â€˜Of course we shall,’ said Dorinda.
    â€˜O great and glorious Kangaroos!’ cried the Falcon, stretching his wings again as if tasting already the joy of flight. ‘You promise that? Ah, Greenland, Greenland! I shall see the snow again, and the pack-ice melting in the green, and the Arctic Sea. Do you hear that, Puma? We shall be free!’
    â€˜Yes, I hear,’ said the Puma. ‘But it is more difficult for me. You can fly to Greenland, but I cannot run to Brazil.’
    â€˜There’s a very large and beautiful forest not far from here,’ said Dinah. ‘It’s called the Forest of Weal. Couldn’t you live there?’
    â€˜Of course she could,’ said the Falcon.
    â€˜Is it a real forest?’ asked the Puma.

    â€˜Indeed it is,’ said Dinah.
    â€˜Miles and miles and miles of it,’ said Dorinda. ‘You could easily get lost in it.’
    â€˜And if I did,’ asked the Puma, ‘would you come and look for me?’
    â€˜We should love to!’ cried Dinah and Dorinda.

Chapter Eleven
    Just then they heard Mr. Plum ringing a large bell, which was the signal for the animals to go back to their cages, so Dinah and Dorinda said good-bye, and presently, when they were alone together, Dinah said thoughtfully, ‘We seem to be in the very thick of exciting events. I never thought that life in a zoo would be so thrilling.’
    â€˜We’ve certainly got plenty to do,’ said Dorinda, ‘what with helping Mr. Parker to find the missing ostrich eggs, and arranging the escape of the Golden Puma and the Silver Falcon.’
    â€˜We’ve got to arrange our own escape first,’ said Dinah, ‘and I don’t see how we are going to do that unless we can find the bottle I lost and drink what’s left of the magic draught.’
    â€˜Do you think Mr. Parker could find it? He is a detective.’
    â€˜I